Suppose that when this war broke out, and the nation was in an excited and alarmed state, the Secretary of State had come down to this House, and told us that he had added 20,000 men to the Army, and a certain number to the artillery, and had said further—"This is an European Crisis of the Gravest Character, and we shall meet it by altering the tenure of the office of Commander-in-Chief to five years, by similarly altering the tenure of the Military Secretary's office, by reducing the Secretary's salary, and by abolishing the system of purchase".

It seems to me, in spite of the mild and moderate speech made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the previous night, that we are on the brink of a Crisis of the Gravest Possible Character.

They see that an economic Crisis of the Gravest Character is facing the American people.